How to support employees with children with additional needs

If there was ever an employee that needed flexible working and an inclusive working environment, it is the parent or carer of a child with a disability.

These staff members are in the thick of it. It is not unusual for a parent/carer of a neurodivergent child to get multiple calls from school a week. To have to wrangle a paediatrician, psychologists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists and other supports daily. To have spent a morning or evening dealing with meltdowns and challenging behaviours while applying specialised parenting techniques you have never heard of. To be unable to access before and after school care services. To have not slept. To have not had their child looked after by another person outside of office hours in years.

But you know what they value? Their job. The place they get to use their brain just for themselves (and you). Where they have conversations with other adults that don’t revolve around their care-giving and their child’s complex needs.

What will you get for your willingness to be flexible? An employee that will reward your empathy and understanding with efficiency (on a level you won’t believe), dedication and heartfelt thanks that you are an inclusive organisation.